Barkhuizen was suspended on January 10, a day after the start of the 2019 academic year, after a picture she took of a fellow-teacher's Grade R class went viral

It depicted the black pupils sitting at a separate table from the white children.

She was labelled a racist, but Barkhuizen explained in her affidavit that this was done for practical reasons and that the children were moved from time to time.
On Wednesday the North West MEC for Education, Sello Lehari, and the department would no longer oppose Barhuizen's urgent application to return to her post.

Lehari told labour union Solidarity late Wednesday afternoon that he decided to withdraw his opposition to Barkhuizen's urgent application before the Johannesburg Labour Court to have her suspension set aside.